Zhou Shixiong deliberately misinterpreted Zhou Hou's words, causing Zhou Hou to scratch his head and scratch his head anxiously, "Sir, that's not what I mean. I have never thought about leaving Ye Bu Camp!"
Hahaha, Zhou Hou was originally thin, but with such actions, he looked like a giant monkey. Guan Chongguang, Li Fusheng and others were made to laugh by Zhou Hou. "Zhou Hou, I plan to expand the night-time camp. You have to stay in Lang Son City to train new soldiers. Tuyuan Quang Palace will not need you. In addition, I will officially promote you to guard Lang Son City as a reward for your repeated achievements."
Zhou Er and Zhou Wu are officials of the Ming Dynasty. Zhou Shixiong will not let them abandon their official positions if there is no need. Zhou Hou, a private soldier belonging to the Zhennan Hou Mansion who does not close the camp at night, is much easier to deal with. Zhou Shixiong has also thought about the candidate to take over, and Li Xiaobin is very suitable.
Being an instructor for new recruits is certainly not as satisfying as leading soldiers in battle, but since Zhou Shixiong gave the order, Zhou Hou could only accept it. "Thank you for your appreciation, sir. I will accept your order."
Zhou Shixiong summoned Li Xiaobin, announced his new appointment, and gave him the task of sneaking into Xuanguang Mansion to pretend to be a thief. Li Xiaobin happily accepted the order. Zhou Er and Zhou Wu watched with eager eyes. Although the two of them were the top generals under Zhou Shixiong, they certainly felt a sense of crisis as they saw newcomers emerging one after another. It's a pity that Zhou Shixiong needs them to be in Pingxiangzhou, and they are not needed for the affairs of Lang Son Prefecture for the time being.
Zhou Shixiong arranged various tasks and went to Tingli City to conduct on-site surveys and plan the construction of elevated water channels. Zhou Shixiong wanted to improve the economy of Lang Son Prefecture as soon as possible and slowly solve the problems of the Nguyen Phuc family and the Zheng family. Unfortunately, his idea was good, but others did not cooperate.
Zheng Zhuang, the king of Qingdu, successfully realized his plan to force Li Shenzong to step down and support Li Weiyou. Subsequently, King Zheng Zhuang of the Qing capital announced a crusade against the rebellious Zheng Zai on the ninth day of March, and troops from several prefectures in southern Jiaozhi gathered towards Qinghua Prefecture.
"Master, the latest intelligence report." Ma San came to Zhou Shixiong with a large stack of information, and only then did Zhou Shixiong learn about Li Chao's big move. "Qian Ying Manager, Mao Ying Manager, we'll be here first today. Get the drawings out as soon as possible after you go back." Zhou Shixiong sent away the two engineer battalion managers, then picked up the information and read it carefully, frowning more and more.
"Ma San, King Zheng Zhuang of the Qing Dynasty was able to dispatch 50,000 troops. Is this number accurate?" Since ancient times, southern Jiaozhi has been more developed than the northern part. Even though the area of ??the northern part is more than double that of the southern part, the population and economy are much worse than the southern part. In the Northern and Southern Dynasties, it took at least three or four palaces to raise an army of 50,000. It is unimaginable that King Zheng Zhuang and his family of the Qing Dynasty could come up with this number.
"Master, my subordinates have entered the Qingdu King's barracks many times to inquire for information. There must be 50,000 soldiers, and at least 30,000 regular soldiers and elites." Thirty thousand regular soldiers plus 20,000 civilians, this number is acceptable to Zhou Shixiong, at least he I know that Taiyuan Prefecture also has a considerable military strength.
"Zheng Zhuang has such a big appetite that he gathered 100,000 troops at a time and mobilized his troops during the spring plowing season. It seems that he wants to unify Jiaozhi in one go!" The Li Dynasty announced that it would send an army of 200,000 to annihilate the rebellion of the Northern and Vietnamese Dynasties. Ma San's men sent The incoming intelligence reduced the number of people by half, and Zhou Shixiong was thinking of reducing it by 30%. After filtering the water layer by layer, Zhou Shixiong couldn't laugh when he finally came up with the number 70,000.
Zhou Shixiong has read a lot of military books and strategies, and knows that the ancients must avoid two time periods when fighting, one is the sowing season, and the other is the hot and cold season. Food is the most important thing for the people. If we summon soldiers and horses to fight during the sowing season, not to mention how miserable we will be if we lose. Even if we win, we will still face the dilemma of having no harvest. Zheng Zhuang obviously violated the essentials of the Art of War, and his confidence was predictable.
"What countermeasures does Zheng Zai have?" Putting down the information, Zhou Shixiong asked Ma San, rubbing his brows. Ma San took out a notice from his arms and handed it over, "Master, this is the message from Prince Ping'an. It is estimated that the edict will arrive at Lang Son Palace soon."
Most of the contents of the manifesto are nonsense, and only two of them are useful. One is that Zheng Zai, as the prince of Ping'an, summoned all the governments of Vietnam and Northern Dynasty to send troops to resist the invasion of Li Dynasty, and the other is to announce the death of Zheng Du. Zhou Shixiong pulled his fingers and found that Zheng Dudu had been dead for almost half a year before his heir announced his death. It seemed that Zheng Zai's ability was indeed problematic. I just don¡¯t know the effect of Zheng Lisheng¡¯s organization of clan elders to force him to have a baby a few months ago.
"Let's go back to Lang Son City." Zhou Shixiong told Li Fusheng to get on his horse and return to the city. He must take this edict seriously. It would be good to sit back and watch the Zheng family and Ruan Phuc family fight Zheng Zhuang. The problem is that Zhou Shixiong is not enough yet. You have the strength to be this fisherman.
"Sir, the envoy from Prince Ping'an has arrived. Please come out of the city to greet him." Before he even had a drink of water when he returned to Lang Son City, Gao Fu had already come to report the news. "Do you know the edict envoy?"
"Sir, this is Lord Zheng, the master of Beijiang Mansion." Of course Gao Fu knew Zheng Lisheng, but he was very confused about one question. As the master of the palace, how could Zheng Lisheng work as an errand boy for Shenglong Mansion.
When Zhou Shixiong heard that his allies were coming, he quickly went out of the city to greet them. Zheng Lisheng was very enthusiastic when he saw Zhou Shixiong.Without putting on any airs, he stepped out of the sedan and saluted Zhou Shixiong. "Master Zheng, why are you here?" After the greetings, Zhou Shixiong asked very puzzledly.
Zheng Lisheng shook his head and smiled bitterly, "Oh, I'm sorry! It's not convenient to talk here, so let's go to the city." Zheng Lisheng didn't want to say it, Zhou Shixiong could only feel depressed in his heart, and raised his hand to invite Zheng Lisheng into the city. The content of the edict of King Ping'an brought by Zheng Lisheng was the same as the edict, hoping that Zhou Shixiong could send troops to resist the invasion of Li Dynasty.
Sitting in the study room of the Palace Lord¡¯s Yamen, Zhou Shixiong waited for Zheng Lisheng to vent his bitterness. A man who planned to seize the throne actually served as an envoy for his opponent. Zhou Shixiong wanted to hear the story.
"Palace Master Ji, thank you Zheng for your advice. If it weren't for Palace Master Ji, I'm afraid I'm no longer alive!" Zheng Lisheng gave Zhou Shixiong a big gift, and Zhou Shixiong quickly stood up to avoid it. The head of the mansion, Zhou Shixiong, did not dare to receive the full ceremony.
"Master Zheng's words are serious, please sit down quickly." The two of them sat down again after being polite, and then Zheng Lisheng explained the cause and effect. After Ji Hongchang officially succeeded as the head of Lang Son Palace, Zheng Lisheng thought that he had the qualifications and strength to challenge Zheng Zai, so he sent invitations everywhere, inviting the elders of the Zheng clan to attack Zheng Zai. He wanted to take the Qunzong route and force Zheng Zai to withdraw from the battle for throne succession.
Ji Hongchang reminded him at that time, asking him to be careful if Zheng Zai did not follow the rules and used force to deal with the elders who went to Shenglong Mansion to cause trouble. At that time, Zheng Lisheng didn't take it seriously. After returning to Beijiang Mansion, Zheng Lisheng sent people to Shenglong Mansion to arrange a place for the elders to stay, and also to investigate Zheng Zai's actions.
When the agreed date gradually approached, Zheng Lisheng thought of Ji Hongchang's warning from time to time. Zheng Lisheng, who always cherished his life, decided to send more people to Shenglong Mansion to support himself. The result was unexpected. Zheng Zai did not give these clan elders a chance to enter the Shenglong Mansion. He sent people to pretend to be thieves outside the Shenglong Mansion and wiped out all the people who wanted to force him into the palace. The people sent by Zheng Lisheng to Shenglong Mansion heard that someone was going to do harm to the master of the mansion, and rushed back to report the news, which happened to save Zheng Lisheng's life.
Of course, Zheng Lisheng would not swallow his anger when someone plotted against him. He planned to mobilize the forces of the elders to attack Shenglong Mansion and kill Zheng Zai to avenge the elders. Who would have thought that when the news came that Zheng Zhuang was preparing to attack the Northern Dynasty of Vietnam, Zheng Zai's supporters and some neutral factions in the Zheng clan joined forces to suppress Zheng Lisheng's supporters and threatened Zheng Lisheng that if he dared to fight privately at this time, he would be punished. Execute Zheng Lisheng from the clan.
"Master Zheng, even if you lose, you won't help Zheng Zai as an envoy, right? This is too low a price!" It's no big deal if you lose in the fight for the throne. The other party used the general trend to suppress Zheng Lisheng and his supporters. This move is nothing to brag about. . Because doing this has laid the foundation for the division of the family, and it is not a subtle move.
"Master Ji was laughed at. Zheng Zai knew that Zheng had close relations with several eastern prefectures, so he asked the late king to send out the imperial edict to order Zheng to send an envoy to discuss the matter. Zheng had no choice but to do so." What Zheng Lisheng said was very bleak, but it was actually greed. Zheng Zai¡¯s promise. Zheng Zai promised him that as long as he persuaded Lang Son Prefecture, Quang Ninh Prefecture and Taiyuan Prefecture to send troops, he would grant him the entire eastern part of Northern Vietnam, and the two brothers would rule separately.
Zheng Zai attaches great importance to the military strength of Taiyuan Prefecture and Lang Son Prefecture. These two prefectures showed very strong combat power when attacking Tuyen Quang Prefecture. If they are willing to send troops, they will be a great help. Moreover, Zheng Zai also has a small account. As long as these two governments send troops, Zheng Zai will try his best to use them as cannon fodder. While consuming Zheng Zhuang's troops, he will also weaken the forces of these two governments to avoid being in trouble in the future.
Zheng Zai¡¯s plan was very sophisticated. Facing the war to destroy the country, he was not afraid that Taiyuan and Langshan Prefectures would refuse to send troops. He used Zheng Lisheng as an envoy, just to paralyze the palace owners who had already formed a group.
"Master Zheng, I heard that King Qingdu sent 200,000 troops to attack the Northern Dynasty of Vietnam. How many troops can Zheng Zai send to fight?" Zhou Shixiong is not as calculating as Zheng Zai. He only knows that he cannot avoid sending troops. If Zheng Zai is held back now, it will not be him but Zheng Zhuang who will take advantage.
"As far as Zheng knows, Nguyen Phuc sent 50,000 troops, Zheng Zai sent 30,000 troops, the four provinces of Lao Cai, Son La, Ha Binh and Lai Chau sent 40,000 troops, Cao Bang sent 2,000 troops, and the smaller provinces of Nam Dinh and Phu Tho combined There are 10,000 soldiers, which adds up to over 130,000." Zheng Lisheng also knew what he had to pay attention to, and he remembered the number of troops sent by each party very clearly.
Zhou Shixiong thought about it, he could send out at most five thousand troops, Guangning Prefecture might not even have five thousand, and Taiyuan Prefecture wouldn't be able to send out so many troops that it would end with ten thousand. Calculating this, the Northern and Vietnamese Dynasty could send up to 150,000 troops. This also includes Minzhuang, whose future is in danger!
"I wonder how many troops Master Zheng plans to send?" Beijiang Mansion is where Zheng Song started his career. No matter how wealthy or wealthy the population is, it is unmatched by other prefectures in the east. If Zheng Lisheng is willing to devote all his efforts, he can definitely afford 20,000 regular soldiers.
"Let me tell you, Master Ji. Zheng can send up to 10,000 regular soldiers, plus some civilians to make up 15,000. This is Zheng's limit." Zheng Lisheng was forced to give 15,000. Everyone knows that Beijiang Mansion is very powerful.??If he sends too few troops, not to mention whether Taiyuan Prefecture and Lang Son Prefecture will have any ideas, he will not be able to survive the denunciation within the Zheng clan in the first place.